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Samsung Galaxy Nexus Release Date: Launch Confirmed for Nov. 17

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and its operating system Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich were unveiled just two days ago and the first release date for the smartphone and OS has been confirmed.

Tech website Clove.co.uk has confirmed with Samsung that the Galaxy Nexus will release on Nov. 17.

At "Samsung Mobile Unpacked: Google Episode" media event on Oct. 19, where the smartphone and OS were unveiled, Samsung and Google representatives announced that the Galaxy Nexus would release in November on Japan's NTT DoCoMo network and on the Verizon Wireless network in the U.S.

No specific date was given and no other carriers were mentioned at the conference.

A leak of Verizon's inventory prior to the unveiling has detailed that the advertising period for the Galaxy Nexus is from Nov. 10, 2011 to June 10, 2012, leading commentators to believe that the phone would be released any time after Nov. 10.

The confirmed U.K. release date matches up with this projection.

Samsung has not revealed what U.K. carriers will power the phone or whether it will be locked or unlocked.

Gadget Avenue suggests that an unlocked Galaxy Nexus will be priced at £515 or $818.

A different Verizon inventory leak has priced the Galaxy Nexus at $299 with a two-year contract.

A number of tech sources believe that the $299 pricing is accurate.

The Samsung home page for the Galaxy Nexus lists seven carriers under "carrier preference" on the form where customers can sign up for updates, including At&T, Cellular South, Metro PCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon.

Some commentators suggest that this may indicate other networks that will carry the Galaxy Nexus, while others say Samsung is simply using the form to collect data on what the most popular carriers are.

GizmoCrunch notes that the Galaxy S2 had a similar request information form on its homepage before its release, but the phone was released on only three of the seven networks, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.